Syringes are employed to dispense a variety of flowable materials, including therapeutic, diagnostic and other materials utilized in medical applications. In that regard, it is typical to utilize a syringe of a size that generally corresponds with a predetermined amount of material to be dispensed or to otherwise be available for dispensation in a given procedure. For example, in medical applications such amount may be established pursuant to prescription or industry practice, and may significantly vary depending upon the given intended use. In turn, a wide range of syringe sizes are utilized by medical care providers.
Until recently, syringe filling was largely completed manually. In medical applications, such manual filling has typically been completed in pharmacies by highly-trained personnel, including pharmacies located at patient care provider sites having space constraints (e.g. a hospital pharmacy).
Increasingly, attempts have been made to automate one or more steps associated with syringe filling. Such automation may be desirable for a number of reasons, including for example cost efficiencies and quality control. However, such attempts have confronted a number of challenges.
In particular, automated systems typically require automated positioning of syringe plungers with a high degree of accuracy, on a repeatable and reliable basis. To address such requirements, known automated systems have utilized complex componentry that has restricted the ability to efficiently handle syringes of different sizes and configurations, including in particular, syringes having different plunger button configurations. Further, in typical medical-related applications, syringe handling may necessarily require a sterile environment that often entails the use of a vented enclosure, thereby further compounding space constraints in typical pharmacy settings.